Anaesthetic assessment and management of cardiac patients for non-cardiac surgery part 2: Management

In an earlier article in this journal (June 1999) we discussed the risk tha t the presence of cardiac disease poses to patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery. We outlined factors in the patient's medical history, examination findings and the value of various tests in arriving at an overall assessmen t of risk for any given patient. In this article we concentrate on the mana gement of these patients as they undergo surgery itself. We shall consider what measures may usefully be employed in order to minimise the risk of an adverse cardiac event occurring in the perioperative period.